Electronic device and method of displaying information in response to a gesture

ABSTRACT

A method includes displaying information associated with a first application on a touch-sensitive display of an electronic device. A gesture is detected on the touch-sensitive display, which gesture indicates a request to display information associated with a second application. At least part of the information associated with the second application is displayed without opening the second application.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/309,227, filed on Dec. 1, 2011, titled“ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD OF DISPLAYING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO AGESTURE,” which application is a continuation-in-part of and claimspriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/036,186, filed on Feb.28, 2011, titled “ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD OF DISPLAYING INFORMATIONIN RESPONSE TO INPUT” and is a continuation-in-part of and claimspriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/985,600, filed on Jan.6, 2011, titled “ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING SAME,” thecontents of which applications are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present disclosure relates to electronic devices, including but notlimited to, portable electronic devices having touch-sensitive displaysand their control.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices, including portable electronic devices, have gainedwidespread use and may provide a variety of functions including, forexample, telephonic, electronic messaging and other personal informationmanager (PIM) application functions. Portable electronic devicesinclude, for example, several types of mobile stations such as simplecellular telephones, smart phones, wireless personal digital assistants(PDAs), and laptop computers with wireless 802.11 or Bluetoothcapabilities.

Portable electronic devices such as PDAs or smart telephones aregenerally intended for handheld use and ease of portability. Smallerdevices are generally desirable for portability. A touch-sensitivedisplay, also known as a touchscreen display, is particularly useful onhandheld devices, which are small and have limited space for user inputand output. The information displayed on the touch-sensitive displaysmay be modified depending on the functions and operations beingperformed. With continued demand for decreased size of portableelectronic devices, touch-sensitive displays continue to decrease insize.

Improvements in devices with touch-sensitive displays are desirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device such as a portableelectronic device in accordance with the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a portable electronic device in accordancewith the disclosure.

FIG. 3 through FIG. 11 illustrate examples of previewing information ona portable electronic device in accordance with the disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling display ofinformation for two applications in accordance with the disclosure.

FIG. 13 through FIG. 21 illustrate examples of previewing information ona portable electronic device in accordance with the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following describes an apparatus for and method of controllingdisplay of information for two applications. A gesture detected duringdisplay of information associated with a first application requestsdisplay of information associated with a second application. Theinformation associated with the second application may be previewedwithout opening or launching the second application. Optionally, theapplication may be opened. A single continuous gesture may control theamount of the second application information that is displayed, as wellas optionally opening the second application.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, reference numerals may berepeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogouselements. Numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding ofthe examples described herein. The examples may be practiced withoutthese details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, andcomponents are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the examplesdescribed. The description is not to be considered as limited to thescope of the examples described herein.

The disclosure generally relates to an electronic device, such as aportable electronic device or non-portable electronic device. Examplesof portable electronic devices include mobile, or handheld, wirelesscommunication devices such as pagers, cellular phones, cellularsmart-phones, wireless organizers, personal digital assistants,wirelessly enabled notebook computers, tablet computers, mobile internetdevices, electronic navigation devices, and so forth. The portableelectronic device may be a portable electronic device without wirelesscommunication capabilities, such as handheld electronic games, digitalphotograph albums, digital cameras, media players, e-book readers, andso forth. Examples of non portable electronic devices include desktopcomputers, electronic white boards, smart boards utilized forcollaboration, built-in monitors or displays in furniture or appliances,and so forth.

A block diagram of an example of a portable electronic device 100 isshown in FIG. 1. The portable electronic device 100 includes multiplecomponents, such as a processor 102 that controls the overall operationof the portable electronic device 100. Communication functions,including data and voice communications, are performed through acommunication subsystem 104. Data received by the portable electronicdevice 100 is decompressed and decrypted by a decoder 106. Thecommunication subsystem 104 receives messages from and sends messages toa wireless network 150. The wireless network 150 may be any type ofwireless network, including, but not limited to, data wireless networks,voice wireless networks, and networks that support both voice and datacommunications. A power source 142, such as one or more rechargeablebatteries or a port to an external power supply, powers the portableelectronic device 100.

The processor 102 interacts with other components, such as Random AccessMemory (RAM) 108, memory 110, a display 112 with a touch-sensitiveoverlay 114 operably coupled to an electronic controller 116 thattogether comprise a touch-sensitive display 118, one or more actuators120, one or more force sensors 122, an auxiliary input/output (I/O)subsystem 124, a data port 126, a speaker 128, a microphone 130,short-range communications 132, and other device subsystems 134. Inputvia a graphical user interface is provided via the touch-sensitiveoverlay 114. The processor 102 interacts with the touch-sensitiveoverlay 114 via the electronic controller 116. Information, such astext, characters, symbols, images, icons, and other items that may bedisplayed or rendered on a portable electronic device, is displayed onthe touch-sensitive display 118 via the processor 102. The processor 102may interact with an accelerometer 136 that may be utilized to detectdirection of gravitational forces or gravity-induced reaction forces.

To identify a subscriber for network access, the portable electronicdevice 100 may utilize a Subscriber Identity Module or a Removable UserIdentity Module (SIM/RUIM) card 138 for communication with a network,such as the wireless network 150. Alternatively, user identificationinformation may be programmed into memory 110.

The portable electronic device 100 includes an operating system 146 andsoftware programs, applications, or components 148 that are executed bythe processor 102 and are typically stored in a persistent, updatablestore such as the memory 110. Additional applications or programs may beloaded onto the portable electronic device 100 through the wirelessnetwork 150, the auxiliary I/O subsystem 124, the data port 126, theshort-range communications subsystem 132, or any other suitablesubsystem 134.

A received signal such as a text message, an e-mail message, or web pagedownload is processed by the communication subsystem 104 and input tothe processor 102. The processor 102 processes the received signal foroutput to the display 112 and/or to the auxiliary I/O subsystem 124. Asubscriber may generate data items, for example e-mail messages, whichmay be transmitted over the wireless network 150 through thecommunication subsystem 104. For voice communications, the overalloperation of the portable electronic device 100 is similar. The speaker128 outputs audible information converted from electrical signals, andthe microphone 130 converts audible information into electrical signalsfor processing.

The touch-sensitive display 118 may be any suitable touch-sensitivedisplay, such as a capacitive, resistive, infrared, surface acousticwave (SAW) touch-sensitive display, strain gauge, optical imaging,dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse recognition, and so forth,as known in the art. A capacitive touch-sensitive display includes acapacitive touch-sensitive overlay 114. The overlay 114 may be anassembly of multiple layers in a stack including, for example, asubstrate, a ground shield layer, a barrier layer, one or morecapacitive touch sensor layers separated by a substrate or otherbarrier, and a cover. The capacitive touch sensor layers may compriseany suitable material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO).

One or more touches, also known as touch contacts or touch events, maybe detected by the touch-sensitive display 118. The processor 102 maydetermine attributes of the touch, including a location of the touch.Touch location data may include data for an area of contact or data fora single point of contact, such as a point at or near a center of thearea of contact. The location of a detected touch may include x and ycomponents, e.g., horizontal and vertical components, respectively, withrespect to one's view of the touch-sensitive display 118. For example,the x location component may be determined by a signal generated fromone touch sensor, and the y location component may be determined by asignal generated from another touch sensor. A touch may be detected fromany suitable input member, such as a finger, thumb, appendage, or otherobjects, for example, a stylus, pen, or other pointer, based on thenature of the touch-sensitive display 118. Multiple simultaneous touchesmay be detected. One or more gestures may also be detected by thetouch-sensitive display 118. A gesture, such as a swipe, also known as aflick, is a particular type of touch on a touch-sensitive display 118and may begin at an origin point and continue to an end point, forexample, a concluding end of the gesture. A gesture may be identified byattributes of the gesture, including the origin point, the end point,the distance travelled, the duration, the velocity, and the direction,for example. A gesture may be long or short in distance and/or duration.Two points of the gesture may be utilized to determine a direction ofthe gesture. A gesture may also include a hover. A hover may be a touchat a location that is generally unchanged over a period of time or isassociated with the same selection item for a period of time. Thegesture may be a two dimensional gesture, such as a gesture detected bya touch-sensitive input device, e.g., a touch-sensitive display, atrackpad, an optical joystick, a trackball, and so forth. The gesturemay be a three-dimensional gesture, which may be detected by one or moreof a camera, a proximity sensor, an optical sensor, and so forth.

The actuator(s) 120 may be depressed or activated by applying sufficientforce to the touch-sensitive display 118 to overcome the actuation forceof the actuator 120. The actuator(s) 120 may be actuated by pressinganywhere on the touch-sensitive display 118. The actuator(s) 120 mayprovide input to the processor 102 when actuated. Actuation of theactuator(s) 120 may result in provision of tactile feedback. When forceis applied, the touch-sensitive display 118 is depressible, pivotable,and/or movable. Such a force may actuate the actuator(s) 120. Thetouch-sensitive display 118 may, for example, float with respect to thehousing of the portable electronic device, i.e., the touch-sensitivedisplay 118 may not be fastened to the housing. A mechanical dome switchactuator may be utilized. In this example, tactile feedback is providedwhen the dome collapses due to imparted force and when the dome returnsto the rest position after release of the switch. Alternatively, theactuator 120 may comprise one or more piezoelectric (piezo) devices thatprovide tactile feedback for the touch-sensitive display 118.

Optional force sensors 122 may be disposed in conjunction with thetouch-sensitive display 118 to determine or react to forces applied tothe touch-sensitive display 118. The force sensor 122 may be disposed inline with a piezo actuator 120. The force sensors 122 may beforce-sensitive resistors, strain gauges, piezoelectric orpiezoresistive devices, pressure sensors, quantum tunneling composites,force-sensitive switches, or other suitable devices. Force as utilizedthroughout the specification, including the claims, refers to forcemeasurements, estimates, and/or calculations, such as pressure,deformation, stress, strain, force density, force-area relationships,thrust, torque, and other effects that include force or relatedquantities. Optionally, force information related to a detected touchmay be utilized to select information, such as information associatedwith a location of a touch. For example, a touch that does not meet aforce threshold may highlight a selection option, whereas a touch thatmeets a force threshold may select or input that selection option.Selection options include, for example, displayed or virtual keys of akeyboard; selection boxes or windows, e.g., “cancel,” “delete,” or“unlock”; function buttons, such as play or stop on a music player; andso forth. Different magnitudes of force may be associated with differentfunctions or input. For example, a lesser force may result in panning,and a higher force may result in zooming.

A front view of a portable electronic device is shown in FIG. 2. Thetouch-sensitive display 118 includes a display area 202 in whichinformation may be displayed, and a non-display area 204 extendingaround the periphery of the display area. The display area 202 generallycorresponds to the area of the display 112. Information is not displayedin the non-display area 204 by the display 112, which non-display area204 is utilized to accommodate, for example, electronic traces orelectrical connections, adhesives or other sealants, and/or protectivecoatings around the edges of the display area. The non-display area 204may be referred to as an inactive area. The non-display area 204 istypically not part of the physical housing or frame 206 of theelectronic device. Typically, no pixels of the display 112 are in thenon-display area 204, thus no image can be displayed by the display 112in the non-display area 204. Optionally, a secondary display, not partof the primary display 112, may be disposed under the non-display area204. Touch sensors may be disposed in the non-display area 204, whichtouch sensors may be extended from the touch sensors in the display areaor distinct or separate touch sensors from the touch sensors in thedisplay area 202. A touch, including a gesture, may be associated withthe display area 202, the non-display area 204, or both areas. The touchsensors may extend across substantially the entire non-display area 204or may be disposed in only part of the non-display area 204. Touches maybe detected, for example, starting in the non-display area 204 andcontinuing into the display area 202 or starting in the display area 202and continuing into the non-display area 204, whether or not touchsensors are disposed in the non-display area 204. The portableelectronic device 100 optionally includes a set of convenience keys orbuttons 208, 1308 that may be separate physical keys or buttons orvirtual keys or buttons.

A sequence of responses to various aspects of a gesture is shown in FIG.3 through FIG. 10. Previewing second application information with anoption to open the second application is described. The electronicdevice 100 is in a portrait orientation in these examples, although theexamples apply to a landscape orientation as well. In this example, aweather application is displayed when a notification occurs. Thenotification may indicate, for example, an incoming message, such as anemail or text message, a missed phone call, a meeting notice, a socialnetworking message, and so forth. The notification may be audible and/orvisual. A visual notification may be provided by a separate physicalelement, e.g., a light emitting diode that blinks, or a displayednotification, such as the virtual notifier 302 that appears as ablinking object on the touch-sensitive display. The notification may beprovided for a predetermined period of time or until an actionterminates the notification. The notification may optionally activatemonitoring for a gesture that indicates a request to display informationassociated with a second application for which information is notcurrently being displayed. For example, the monitoring may targetdetection of a touch at specific locations of the display, such as at ornear an edge or side of the display area 202.

During display of information associated with a first application, theweather application in this example, a gesture is detected. The gesturein this example has an origin associated with a lower edge of thedisplay area 202, e.g., a swipe that starts in the non-display area 204and continues onto the display area 202 as shown in FIG. 4. Throughoutthe drawings, a current location of the gesture is shown by a dottedcircle, and a path of the gesture is shown by a dotted line with anarrow indicating most recent direction (if any) of the gesture.Information associated with the first application is referred to asfirst application information, and information associated with thesecond application is referred to as second application informationherein. In this example, the path 402 of the gesture is indicated by thedotted line and arrow. The gesture need not be provided in response tothe notification and may be detected at any time.

The first application information 404 may optionally be displayed in abackground manner, such as in a reduced or gradually reduced size (suchas shown in FIG. 4 through FIG. 9, FIG. 14 through FIG. 17, FIG. 19, andFIG. 20), in a partially or gradually transparent style, in a mannerthat covers or replaces the first application information with thesecond application information (such as shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG.10, and FIG. 20), in a manner that shifts or scrolls the firstapplication information off the touch-sensitive display 118 (such asshown in FIG. 11, FIG. 15 through FIG. 17, FIG. 19, and FIG. 20) othervisual representations, or any combination thereof. The gradual changesin display may optionally take place in response to movement of thegesture or display of the second application information. For example,FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 illustrate that the first application information isreduced in size more as the path 402 of the gesture extends further intothe display area 202.

Optionally, additional information may be displayed with the firstapplication information 404 when this information is displayed in areduced size. For example, a battery level, time, date, signal strength,and one or more message notifications 502 may be displayed, such asshown in FIG. 5. The user may be satisfied with the additionalinformation displayed, and may discontinue the gesture, thus returningthe display to displaying the first application information.

As the gesture continues in the example sequence, the path 402 of thegesture changes direction in FIG. 6, which change in direction triggersthe beginning of the display of the second application information 602.In this example sequence, the second application information 602 shiftsor scrolls onto the touch-sensitive display 118 from a right side oredge of the display 118 relative to the orientation of the drawing.Thus, the second application information 602 shifts or scrolls onto thedisplay 118 from a side or edge of the display 118 different from theedge associated with the gesture, e.g., where the gesture originated.

Optionally, the second application information 602 is gradually shiftedor scrolled onto or off (of) the display 118 along with the movement ofthe gesture. As the path 402 of the gesture moves to the left as theexample proceeds from FIG. 6 to FIG. 7 to FIG. 8, more of the secondapplication information 602 is gradually displayed. This shifting orscrolling provides a user with the ability to view a part of the secondinformation 602 until the user has seen enough information to decidewhether or not to open the second application. The second applicationinformation 602 may optionally be displayed more quickly when thegesture moves more quickly. More of the second application information602 may optionally be displayed as length of the gesture increases, suchas shown in the example in the progression of the gesture from FIG. 6 toFIG. 7 to FIG. 8. Thus, the amount of information displayed mayoptionally be proportional to the length of the path of the gesture orthe length of a part of the path of the gesture. More of the secondapplication information 602 may optionally be displayed the longer thegesture is maintained or detected by the touch-sensitive display. Thus,the amount of information displayed may optionally be proportional tothe duration or length of time of detection of the gesture.

The user is provided with the ability to preview the second applicationinformation without opening the application and to optionally open thesecond application if desired. FIG. 9 illustrates a few differentexamples of gesture characteristics that terminate the preview of thesecond application information. For example, the user may have viewedenough information via preview and does not desire to view moreinformation or open the second application. One gesture option toterminate preview includes changing the path 902 of the gesture in adirection toward the edge or side associated with the origin of thegesture, which is the bottom of the display area 202 in this example.Another gesture option to terminate preview includes changing the path904 of the gesture in a direction toward the edge or side where thesecond application information began to be displayed, such as the edgewhere the information shifts or scrolls onto the display area 202.Another gesture option to terminate preview includes simplydiscontinuing the gesture, e.g., the input member is removed from thetouch-sensitive display 118.

When the gesture ceases, optionally, the first application informationis again displayed on the display 118, as shown in the example of FIG.9. With this option, the first application information 404 may bedisplayed in a gradually increasing size, may shift or scroll back ontothe display area 202, or may be immediately restored to full or normaldisplay size, such as shown in FIG. 3.

Upon previewing the second application information 602, the user maydesire to open the second application, for example, to open or send amessage. The second application may be opened when the gesture includesa characteristic that indicates opening of the second application. Forexample, the path 402 of the gesture may continue from FIG. 8 along theoptional paths 1002, 1004 shown in FIG. 10 to open the secondapplication. The paths 1002, 1004 reflect examples of characteristics orattributes of the gesture that are interpreted by the device 100 to openthe second application. One option for the gesture to open the secondapplication is for the path 1002 of the gesture to continue in itscurrent direction until the gesture is associated with another edge orside of the display, such as the edge or side opposite the edge or sidewhere the display of the second application information 602 entered thedisplay, such as shown in FIG. 10. Another option for the gesture toopen the second application is for the path 1004 of the gesture tochange direction, such as toward the edge or side opposite the edge orside where the display of the second application information 602 enteredthe display, such as shown in FIG. 10. Another option is toautomatically open the second application when the second applicationinformation covers available display area in response to the gesture,for example, when the second application information is displayed acrossa vertical or horizontal extent of the display area 202 or a vertical orhorizontal extent of a window or field in which the second applicationinformation is displayed. A tool bar 1006 may optionally be displayed.

Some of the examples herein show an option where the first applicationinformation is displayed in a reduced size. Another option in theseexamples retains the reduced-size first application information at afixed location on the display 118 as the second application informationcovers or replaces the first application information on the display 118.Optionally, the first application information may be displayed withoutchanging the size of the information, i.e., in the same size, such asshown in FIG. 11. When the first application information is displayedsame-size, the first application information may be retained at a fixedlocation on the display 118 as the second application information coversor replaces the first application information on the display 118, or thefirst application information may be shifted or scrolled off the display118 as the second application information is shifted or scrolled on thedisplay 118, such as shown in FIG. 11. Less first applicationinformation, e.g., quantity of information or area of display covered bythe information, may be displayed as more second application informationis displayed.

A flowchart illustrating a method of controlling display of informationfor two applications is shown in FIG. 12. The method may be carried outby software executed, for example, by the processor 102 of theelectronic device, which may be a portable electronic device 100. Codingof software for carrying out such a method is within the scope of aperson of ordinary skill in the art given the present description. Themethod may contain additional or fewer processes than shown and/ordescribed, and may be performed in a different order. Computer-readablecode executable by at least one processor of the portable electronicdevice to perform the method may be stored in a computer-readablemedium, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

Information associated with a first application is displayed 1202 on adisplay, for example, on a touch-sensitive display 118. The informationmay be information associated with any suitable application, such asemail, text messaging, calendar, tasks, address book or contacts, mediaplayer, or any other suitable application in which information isdisplayed by or on an electronic device 100. Information associated withemail may include a list of email messages, information associated witha calendar may include a meeting schedule, calendar day view, week view,month view, or agenda view, information associated with an address bookmay include a listing of contacts, information associated with a mediaplayer may include text, pictures, videos, or artwork related to musicor other media. The applications and information are not limited to theexamples provided.

A gesture associated that indicates a request to display informationassociated with a second application is detected 1204. Detection of thegesture triggers display of the second application information. Thegesture may be considered to be a command associated with the secondapplication, which command requests, controls, or causes at least partof the second application information to be displayed.

An appropriate gesture is advantageously assigned to request display ofinformation associated with a second application. Advantageously,unintentional display of information is avoided. Thus, the gesture isassociated with the second application. The gesture may be associatedwith a specific location, such as an edge (or side) or corner of thetouch-sensitive display 118, or a displayed element, such as a specialindicator, e.g., a ghosted symbol or word, or a header for anapplication. The gesture may have detectable attributes orcharacteristics, such as movement, direction, change in direction,shape, duration, length, force, speed, time associated with a givenlocation as with a hover, number of simultaneous touch locations, numberof taps, use in conjunction with a physical key, button, or other inputdevice, and so forth. The gesture may comprise depression of atouch-sensitive display 118 that actuates an actuator 120, such asdescribed above. The gesture may comprise any combination of the abovecharacteristics or attributes.

A few examples of a gesture are as follows. The gesture may beassociated with an edge or side of the display area 202 and extends intoor enters the display area 202. A gesture associated with an edge orside of the display area 202 may be, for example, a gesture detected bytouch sensors in the non-display area 204, a gesture that starts outsidethe display area 202 and continues onto the display area, a gesturehaving a touch location (e.g., an origin of the gesture) that is at ornear an outer perimeter of the display area 202, and so forth. A cornerof the display area 202 may be associated with one or both edges orsides that meet at the corner. The gesture may be a hover or othergesture that remains associated with a specific location for a period oftime, such as the sustained touch at a location 2002 associated with acorner of the touch-sensitive display 118 as shown in the example ofFIGS. 20 and 21. The input may be a compound gesture, for example, atouch sustained at a specific location, such as a corner or side of thedisplay, while a swipe is detected. The gesture may be input directlyvia an input device, e.g., a touch-sensitive display, optical joystick,and so forth, and may include other types of gestures such as 3Dgestures or physical gestures involving movement of the electronicdevice 100.

The second application may be any suitable application, such asdescribed above. The second application information associated is alsodescribed above. For example, the second application may be a messageapplication, and the second application information that is displayed isthe inbox for the messaging application. The inbox may be a universalinbox, which may include any or all of the following, for example,emails, meeting notifications, text messages of any type, missed phonecall notifications, social networking messages, system messages, newsfeed messages, download progress messages, subscribed informationmessages, and so forth. The second application may alternatively be acalendar, an address book, home screen, and so forth. The secondapplication may alternatively be a notification application that managesnotifications of various sorts, including notifications related toemail, text, missed phone calls, calendar, social networking, and devicewarnings, such as low battery or lost communication connection, to namea few.

The first application information and second application information aredisplayed 1206. For example, the second application information may bedisplayed in increasing quantity as the first application information isdisplayed in decreasing quantity. The displayed second applicationinformation may be a preview (or peek) of the second applicationinformation, including, for example, a subset or part of all theavailable second application information. For example, when the secondapplication is an email application, the last five emails may bedisplayed, when the second application is an address book, the ten mostoften accessed contacts may be displayed, and so forth. The preview maybe displayed without opening or launching the second application, inwhich case the previewed information may be retrieved from storedinformation and/or information received via a communication network 150.Previewing or displaying without opening the second application istypically a faster process than opening the application.

While previewed, second application information is viewable and activeapplication functions are not operable other than to display more orless of the information. For the example of previewing a messaginginbox, email messages cannot be opened and new emails cannot beinitiated during a preview, although the titles, senders, and timeinformation are viewable. For the example of previewing a calendar,existing calendar events cannot be opened and new calendar events cannotbe initiated during a preview, although the titles, meeting initiator,and time information are viewable. The second application may optionallybe opened to engage active application functions. The preview of thesecond application information is displayed, for example, for the timeduration of the gesture or until the second application is opened.

While the gesture continues 1208, the second application information mayoptionally be displayed by shifting or scrolling 1210 the informationonto or off (of) the touch-sensitive display 118. The shiftingoptionally occurs in accordance with movement of the gesture. Forexample, more information may be displayed as the gesture moves in aforward direction and less information may be displayed as the gesturemoves in a reverse direction. A forward direction may be, for example,the direction that the information takes as it progresses onto thedisplay 118, and the reverse direction is the opposite direction to theforward direction. The shifting or scrolling of the second applicationinformation may continue as long as the gesture continues or until thesecond application is opened 1214 in response to detecting 1212 anindication to open the second application. The first applicationinformation may optionally shift or scroll off the display 118 as thesecond application information scrolls onto the display 118. Similarly,the first application information may optionally shift or scroll ontothe display 118 as the second application information scrolls off thedisplay 118. Thus, the method provides a preview of second applicationinformation without opening the second application while providing aneasily executed option to open the second application.

A sequence of responses to various aspects of gestures is shown in FIG.13 through FIG. 21. Previewing second application information with anoption to open the second application are described. Descriptions offeatures and aspects described above will not be repeated for the sakeof brevity. The electronic device 100 is in a landscape orientation inthese examples, although the examples apply to a portrait orientation aswell. The portable electronic device 100 in FIG. 13 through FIG. 21 hasa different form factor than the form factor of the portable electronicdevice 100 of FIG. 2 through FIG. 11. The method described hereinapplies to any form factor.

The first application in this example is the same weather applicationfrom the above examples, although the information is displayed in alandscape orientation, as shown in FIG. 13. A notification, such asdescribed above, may optionally be provided, such as the virtualnotifier 302. The gesture that indicates a request to displayinformation associated with a second application is detected. Thegesture in this example has an origin associated with a right edge orside of the display area 202, e.g., a swipe that has a path 1402 thatstarts in the non-display area 204 and continues onto the display area202 toward the left as shown in FIG. 14. The gesture need not beprovided in response to the notification and may be detected at anytime.

As shown in FIG. 15, the second application information 1502 shifts orscrolls onto the display 118 beginning at the right side or edge of thedisplay 118 when the gesture is detected, which may include a slightdelay. In this example, the second application information 1502 scrollsor shifts onto the display 118 from the same edge or side associatedwith the gesture.

As shown in the progression of path 1402 of the gesture from FIG. 15 toFIG. 16 to FIG. 17, the second application information 1502 shifts orscrolls onto or off (of) the display 118 along with or in accordancewith movement of the gesture. For example, when the gesture moves to theleft, the information moves proportionately to the left; when thegesture moves to the right, the information moves proportionately to theright. Similarly, when the gesture moves up or down, the informationmoves proportionately up or down, respectively, such as shown in theexample of FIG. 19. As described above, the first applicationinformation may shrink or shift or scroll off the display 118 as thesecond application information shifts or scrolls onto the display 118.

The preview or display of the second application information 1502 mayend as described above, e.g., upon cessation of the gesture, when thesecond application information 1502 is scrolled or shifted off thedisplay 118, and so forth. The preview terminates when the secondapplication is opened or launched. As before, upon previewing the secondapplication information 1502, the user may desire to open the secondapplication, for example, to open or send a message. The secondapplication may be opened when the gesture includes a characteristicthat indicates opening of the second application. For example, the path1402 of the gesture may continue along the optional paths 1802, 1804shown in FIG. 18 to open the second application. The paths 1802, 1804reflect examples of characteristics or attributes of the gesture thatare interpreted by the device 100 to open the second application. Oneoption for the gesture to open the second application is for the path1802 of the gesture to continue in its current direction until thegesture is associated with another edge or side of the display, such asthe edge or side opposite the edge or side where the display of thesecond application information 1502 entered the display, such as shownin FIG. 18. Another option for the gesture to open the secondapplication is for the path 1804 of the gesture to change direction,such as toward the edge or side opposite the edge or side where thedisplay of the second application information 602 entered the display,such as shown in FIG. 18. Another option is to automatically open thesecond application when the second application information coversavailable display area in response to the gesture, for example, when thesecond application information is displayed across a vertical orhorizontal extent of the display area 202 or a vertical or horizontalextent of a window or field in which the second application informationis displayed. A tool bar 1806 may optionally be displayed.

Second application information may scroll or shift onto the display 118from a different edge or side, such as the bottom of the display area202, such as shown in FIG. 19. In this example, the gesture isassociated with the same edge from which the scrolling or shiftingbegins, although the gesture may originate from any edge or side orcorner.

Different gesture types other than moving gestures may be utilized topreview the second application information. As shown in the example ofFIG. 20 and FIG. 21, a gesture comprising a stationary touch or hover ata location 2002 associated with one of the corners of the display area202 initiates the preview, which continues as described above. An iconmay optionally be displayed at the location 2002. More of the secondapplication information 1904 may optionally be displayed the longer thegesture is maintained or detected by the touch-sensitive display 118 atthe location 2002. In the example of FIG. 20, the first applicationinformation is displayed same-size, and the first applicationinformation is retained at a fixed location on the display 118 as thesecond application information covers or replaces the first applicationinformation on the display 118. The preview may terminate, for example,when the gesture ceases to be detected or moves to a substantiallydifferent location. The second application may be opened, for example,when a second touch is detected at a location 2102 associated with adifferent corner, such as shown in FIG. 21.

When preview is terminated, display of the second applicationinformation may optionally be shifted off or scrolled off the display118 along with movement of the gesture or over a period of time. Thesecond application information may recede in the direction in which theinformation was displayed or may continue off the opposite edge of thedisplay area 202 from which display began. Optionally, the display ofthe second application information may be immediately terminated orfaded gradually off the display.

In the above examples, the gesture is a continuous gesture whiledisplaying at least part of the second application information withoutopening the second application. Although other non-continuous gesturesmay be utilized, a continuous gesture facilitates a more smooth displayof the information as well as more quickly changing what is displayed aswell as the end of the display of the second application information.The user is provided with the ability to preview as much secondapplication information as desired without opening the secondapplication, with the option to quickly and easily open the secondapplication at any time with the same gesture utilized to preview thesecond application information. The method described herein is a naturaland efficient method for previewing information with an option to openthe application. Because previewing is typically faster than opening thesecond application, battery is conserved as well as providing a moreefficient interface to the user because the user is able to obtaininformation without being required to open the second application.

Although the second application is opened in the above examples with acontinuation of the gesture, other input may be utilized to open thesecond application, such as a second gesture that overlaps in time withthe original gesture that indicates a preview, a menu selection,depression of a physical key, and so forth.

The second application information is displayed in the above examplesstarting from the right or the bottom edge or side of thetouch-sensitive display 118, which has the advantage of displaying theinformation in a left-to-right manner or chronologically, respectively.Nevertheless, display of the second application information may startfrom any edge or side of the display 118.

The above examples describe displaying a first application andpreviewing second application information without opening the secondapplication, with an option to open the second application in responseto detecting a gesture or characteristics of the gesture. Optionally,different gestures or gestures associates with different edges or sidesor corners may preview multiple different applications. For example, agesture associated with the right edge previews a messaging inbox, agesture associated with the left edge previews a calendar, a gestureassociated with the bottom edge previews an address book, and a gestureassociated with the top edge previews a user-selected application. Theuser may be provided with the option to assign the application with thedesired edge or side or corner.

Although the method is advantageous for portable electronic devices dueto the limited display size on a portable electronic device, such as asmartphone, the method may be applied to other electronic devices thathave a larger display size.

Although the above examples illustrate various different features, thefeatures of any example may be utilized with any other example unlessthe features conflict. For example, features of FIG. 2 through 11 may beutilized in a landscape orientation, and features of FIG. 13 through 21may be utilized in a portrait orientation. Other features areinterchangeable but are too numerous to identify briefly.

Shifting or scrolling of information onto a display area generallyincludes gradually moving or progressively adding information onto adisplay area. Shifting or scrolling of information off (of) a displayarea generally includes gradually moving or progressively removinginformation from a display area. The shifting or scrolling of secondapplication information onto the display may cause shifting or scrollingof first application information off the display or may cover or replacethe first application information, such that the first applicationinformation appears to be below the second application information. Thedisplay of the information associated with a first application may bereduced as the display of the information associated with the secondapplication is increased. The information associated with the secondapplication may shift onto the touch-sensitive display from a first edgeof the touch-sensitive display while the information associated with thefirst application shifts off a second edge of the touch-sensitivedisplay, wherein the second edge is opposite the first edge. Icons orinformation other than the first application information may also scrollor shift onto or off of the display as the first application informationor the second application information scrolls onto or off of thedisplay, changes size, and so forth.

The second application information that is previewed may be adjusted bythe user. For example, the use may identify the quantity of informationto be previewed, e.g., 10 latest unread emails, 5 most recently accessedcontacts, and so forth.

The terms left, right, top, bottom, and so forth are utilized herein forpurpose of providing a perspective for reference but are not otherwiselimiting.

The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure is, therefore,indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes that come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: displaying, in a window,information associated with a first application on a touch-sensitivedisplay of an electronic device; detecting, while only the informationassociated with a first application is displayed in the window, agesture on the touch-sensitive display, which gesture is a requestdedicated to display messaging information; in response to detecting thegesture: dividing the window into a first area and a second area andgradually displaying the messaging information in the first area whilereducing display of the information associated with the firstapplication in the second area; while the gesture continues to bedetected, varying a size of the first area along with movement of thegesture; in response to detecting discontinuation of the gesture: when acharacteristic of the gesture is an indication to view the messaginginformation, discontinuing display of the information associated withthe first application and displaying only the messaging information inthe window; when a characteristic of the gesture in an indication toterminate display of the messaging information, discontinuing display ofthe messaging information and displaying only the information associatedwith the first application in the window.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein at least part of the messaging information is previewed untilthe gesture terminates or a messaging application is opened.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a messaging application is opened when thegesture includes a characteristic that indicates opening of themessaging application.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein opening themessaging application comprises engaging active inbox functions.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein gradually displaying the messaginginformation comprises previewing the messaging information by displayingmessaging information while active inbox functions are not operable. 6.The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to displaying themessaging information across available display area of thetouch-sensitive display, discontinuing display of the messaginginformation in response to detecting a characteristic of the gesture. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the first area progressively increases insize or decreases in size along with movement of the gesture.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising reducing display of the messaginginformation while increasing display of the information associated withthe first application when the gesture changes direction.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein a change in direction of the gesture causes themessaging application to begin to be displayed.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein monitoring for the gesture is activated when a notificationis activated.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least part of thegesture is associated with a first edge of the touch-sensitive display,wherein the messaging information shifts onto the touch-sensitivedisplay from a second edge of the touch-sensitive display, wherein thefirst edge is different from the second edge.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein at least part of the gesture is associated with a first edge ofthe touch-sensitive display, wherein the messaging information shiftsonto the touch-sensitive display from the first edge.
 13. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the messaging information shifts onto thetouch-sensitive display from a first edge of the touch-sensitive displaywhile the information associated with the first application shifts off asecond edge of the touch-sensitive display, wherein the second edge isopposite the first edge.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein themessaging information is a universal inbox.
 15. A method comprising:displaying information associated with a first application on atouch-sensitive display of an electronic device by displaying, in afirst area of the touch-sensitive display, the information associatedwith the first application; detecting a gesture on the touch-sensitivedisplay, which gesture indicates a request to preview messaginginformation; in response to detecting the gesture: previewing themessaging information by shifting a side of the messaging informationinto the first area while reducing display of the information associatedwith the first application in the first area as an area of display ofthe messaging information increases, wherein the shifting and reducingoccurs along with movement of the gesture; in response to detectingdiscontinuation of the gesture: when a characteristic of the gesture inan indication from the gesture to view the messaging information,discontinuing display of the information associated with the firstapplication and displaying the messaging information in the first area;when a characteristic of the gesture indicates termination of thepreview of the messaging information, discontinuing display of themessaging information and displaying the information associated with thefirst application in the first area.
 16. The method of claim 15, whereinat least part of the messaging information is previewed until thegesture terminates or a messaging application is opened.
 17. The methodof claim 15, wherein a messaging application is opened when the gestureincludes a characteristic that indicates opening of the messagingapplication.
 18. The method of claim 15, further comprising graduallyshifting the information associated with the first application off thetouch-sensitive display to gradually increase an area of display of themessaging information.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein an area ofdisplay of the messaging information progressively increases in size ordecreases in size along with movement of the gesture.
 20. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the messaging information is displayed by shifting aside of the messaging information across the touch-sensitive display.21. A method comprising: while displaying first application informationthroughout a window displayed on an electronic device, detecting agesture that requests messaging information to be displayed in thewindow; in response to detecting the gesture: dividing the window into afirst area and a second area and displaying the messaging information inthe first area while displaying the first application information in thesecond area; while the gesture continues to be detected, varying a sizeof the first area along with movement of the gesture; in response todetecting discontinuation of the gesture: when a characteristic of thegesture is an indication to view the messaging information,discontinuing display of the first application information anddisplaying the messaging information in the window; when acharacteristic of the gesture is an indication to terminate display ofthe messaging information, discontinuing display of the messaginginformation and displaying the first application information in thewindow.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein at least part of themessaging information is previewed until the gesture terminates or amessaging application is opened.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein amessaging application is opened when the gesture includes acharacteristic that indicates opening of the messaging application. 24.The method of claim 21, further comprising gradually shifting theinformation associated with the first application off thetouch-sensitive display to gradually increase an area of display of themessaging information.
 25. The method of claim 21, wherein an area ofdisplay of the messaging information progressively increases in size ordecreases in size along with movement of the gesture.
 26. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the messaging information is displayed by shifting aside of the messaging information across the touch-sensitive display.27. A method comprising: displaying information associated with a firstapplication in a window of a touch-sensitive display of an electronicdevice, wherein only the information associated with the firstapplication is displayed in the window; detecting a gesture on thetouch-sensitive display, which gesture is a dedicated request to previewan inbox; in response to detecting the gesture: previewing the inbox by:shifting the information associated with the first application off afirst side of the window; displaying the inbox from a second side of thewindow, wherein the second side of the window is opposite the first sideof the window; wherein the shifting is controlled by movement of thegesture, such that the gesture controls a size of an area of the windowin which the inbox is displayed; detecting an indication from thegesture to open the inbox and in response to detecting the indication,displaying the inbox in the window and discontinuing display of theinformation associated with the first application, wherein theindication comprises movement of the gesture toward the first side ofthe window; when a characteristic of the gesture indicates terminatingdisplay of the inbox, discontinuing display of the inbox and displayingthe information associated with the first application in the window,wherein the characteristic comprises movement of the gesture toward thesecond side of the window.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein theshifting comprises displaying the information associated with the firstapplication in a reduced size.
 29. The method of claim 27, wherein, inresponse to detecting the gesture, one or more message notifications aredisplayed with the information associated with the first application.30. The method of claim 27, wherein the size of the area of the windowin which the inbox is displayed progressively increases in size ordecreases in size along with movement of the gesture.